Ecstasy Dumbs Down the Brain

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Young people who use the recreational drug ecstasy may be doing more than just getting high. New research out of Amsterdam suggests they may also be damaging their ability to remember certain facts.

The study was conducted among 188 young people with an average age of 22 who had not tried ecstasy at the beginning of the study but reported they were likely to use it as time went on.

All of the participants underwent standard tests to measure brain functioning, with no significant differences found between the individuals in the group.

Three years later, 58 of the original participants reported they had given ecstasy a try. At that point, the brain tests were repeated, and this time, researchers found significant deficits in the people who had used the drug. The findings were most pronounced for tests involving the ability to remember words and were equally significant for women and men.

The authors believe Ecstasy may impact learning ability by damaging nerve cells that respond to the hormone serotonin. Serotonin is thought to play a role in learning and memory, and it also affects mood and thinking abilities.

"Our data indicate that low doses of ecstasy are associated with decreased verbal memory function, which is suggestive for ecstasy-induced neurotoxicity," conclude the investigators.

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SOURCE: Archives of General Psychiatry, 2007;64:728-736